Liam’s Lily Read online

  “We also want to see the report on your brother’s death.”

  She gasped and fell back on the couch beside her father, staring at the two men. She shook her head. “No, no. Don’t go there.”

  “We have to,” Liam said gently. He sat beside her and picked up her icy-cold fingers. “Your brother didn’t deserve to die. Your father does not deserve this.” He motioned to the man sitting vacantly beside them. “All sorts of drugs can bring on this kind of stupor. It’s hardly fair to the vibrant man he used to be.”

  Just then Liam’s phone rang. He pulled it out. “I have to take this call,” he said quietly. “Levi? What’s up?” She stared at him, haunted as he moved a foot away to talk. First thing he did was to tell Levi about the lawyer.

  She stared as bits and pieces of the conversation floated around her.

  “Okay. I’ll tell you this. You’ll have to contact the facility tomorrow morning and make sure no roadblocks pop up.”

  Then Liam stopped and turned to look in her direction. He spoke again. “Right. Okay, good. If Gunner gets on this, maybe we can get some action too.”

  It was just too much to grasp. The last thing she wanted was to hear there had been foul play in her brother’s death. As she stared at her father, she realized the decline had been so slow that she hadn’t seen it. Not until someone new came on site to see him. She’d been so caught up in her own sadness and worry that she hadn’t seen how quickly her father was declining. She grabbed his hand gently and said, “We’ll do everything we can.”

  “And that’ll start tomorrow morning,” Liam said in a hard voice. “We have a specialist involved now. He’ll take a look at your father’s condition and medications.”

  “He is coming here?”

  Liam shook his head. “Not if we don’t need him to. We’ll send your father’s medical records to him to examine. But if there are any legal or corporate complications, he will come here. Gunner has also been informed, and he’s pretty pissed off. As of this moment, Gunner’s lawyer is representing the sanctuary and you.”

  She sagged in place. “You know my sister will have a shit fit when she finds out.”

  He nodded. “It’ll be a legal fight, depending on how far along they are in the process. Whose name is on the land?”

  She stared at him. “My father’s and my brother’s. But, with my brother’s death, that left my father as sole owner.”

  “Why your brother?”

  “He was supposed to take over running the sanctuary. This was his life.”

  “And now we’re back to wanting the report on your brother’s death.”

  “There was an investigation,” she said quietly. “It was an accident, but there had to be an official investigation regardless.” She thought about it for a long moment. “Detective Olson. He’s the man I spoke to. He should be able to help you.” She watched as Liam typed a text, sending it off as she heard a tone. “Are you guys always this fast?”

  Liam shot her a hard look. “Absolutely. And now we are running out of time. If people are getting paperwork signed and sealed behind your back, we have to put legal stops in place.”

  “How fast can that happen?”

  He gave her a glance. “You can bet there will be shit happening before tomorrow morning.”

  She shuddered. “Will they need my signature on anything?”

  He nodded. “Do you have a scanner at home? Do you know a notary?”

  “Everyone is closed by now,” she cried out. “My printer is a scanner though.”

  “Do you have any protection for your cabin?”

  She stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “What if somebody stole your computer equipment and destroyed it so, when you got home, you couldn’t access your data much less print or scan anything?”

  “That’s a scary thought.” She paled.

  He nodded and glanced over at North. “We should get our laptops.”

  North nodded. “They are in the truck.”

  “Good. Sounds like we need them.”

  Just when she thought things could not get any crazier, a knock came on her father’s door. A stranger walked in with a serious look on his face. “I’m looking for Liam O’Brien.”

  Liam stepped forward. “That’s me.”

  The man shook his hand. “I’m the director of this facility. I’ve just been contacted at home and had to come back into work.”

  Liam nodded, but his face gave nothing away.

  She watched from one man to the other, then asked, “Who called you in?”

  The director gave her a shuttered look. “Lawyers.”

  “Good,” she said. “Because it sounds like shit is happening behind my back with my father, and that is not cool.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. “And you are?”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “I’m Lilianna Howell.”

  He nodded. “Do you have ID?”

  She stood slowly. “Why?”

  “Because we can’t prove you are who you are when you have an identical twin sister.”

  “Are you saying my sister might have tried to impersonate me?”

  He just stared at her and said, “ID please.”

  She opened her purse, pulled out her wallet and brought out her driver’s license.

  He glanced at it and nodded. “Having twin sisters and their father in the hospital with a large estate and control over a big elephant sanctuary can create all kinds of difficulties.”

  “But this isn’t about the property,” she said gently. “This is about my father’s medical care.”

  “We certainly haven’t done anything except give him the best care possible,” he said in an equally deceptively mild tone. “And any accusations to the contrary won’t be tolerated.”

  Liam stepped between the two of them. “It depends if we find that anything untoward has occurred. But that’s part of our investigation,” he said calmly. “I’d like your ID now too please.”

  Without a word the director pulled out his wallet and handed over his driver’s license. Liam took a photo of it and then typed on his phone for a few minutes.

  “What are you doing?” the director asked.

  “Sending it for verification and a criminal background check,” Liam said calmly.

  The director stiffened. “I don’t understand what brought this on,” he said, his voice easing into something less aggressive.

  “Her father’s condition for one,” Liam said curtly.

  The director glanced at her father who sat there staring at the TV. The director frowned and crouched in front of her father. “Jim, how are you today?”

  Her father didn’t respond. The director turned toward her. “What was he like the last time you saw him?”

  “The same.”

  The director shrugged and stood. “So why are you expecting him to be any different today?”

  “Because he wasn’t like this a few months ago,” she snapped. “And I’m not sure that anything has been done to help him, outside of keeping him drugged to make it easier on you people.”

  “You know your father had an incident not all that long ago where he was aggressive and difficult. He assaulted a nurse if you recall.”

  She frowned at him. “I was never told about that,” she said. “When was this?”

  “Of course you were told,” he said. “This is the problem we have with family. They remember what they want to remember, and they forget the rest.”

  “Or, in this case, potentially the wrong sister was told,” North said, stepping forward. “As you can’t tell one sister from the other, that’s quite a possibility.”

  “That doesn’t make it our fault,” the director said, his voice stiff again. “If we told you in good faith, then our responsibility has been taken care of.”

  “And what happened to him after that incident?” Liam asked, once again stepping in.

  Good thing because she was thrown for a loop and didn’t know how to proceed. She
sat beside her father, picked up his hand and gently stroked it. “The only reason he would have fought a nurse was if he thought he was in danger.”

  “I don’t see how that could be unless he was hallucinating. He’s very safe here. We’ve given him the best of care,” the director said. “I understand it’s painful to see a loved one like this. But that doesn’t make it our fault.”

  “Then you won’t have a problem handing over his medical records to a specialist who will take a look and determine a future treatment plan.”

  The director frowned. “It would have to go through formal channels.”

  Lilianna snorted. “I’m family. I am entitled to see what he’s been given, what he’s currently being given and who placed those orders.”

  The director stared at her for a moment. “Let me see what I have.” He pivoted and walked out.

  She turned to Liam. “Is this for real? And what does this have to do with the charity money drying up?”

  “I’d say there’s sabotage. And you need to prepare yourself. Your sister could be behind it.”

  She shook her head. “My sister is selfish and very focused on what she wants, but I would never have said she was involved in something as criminal as this.”

  “What about her husband?” North said. “Would she do what he asked her to do?”

  Lilianna stared at the two men, wanting to shut down her mind and to walk away from this whole mess, but she couldn’t do that. Not when her father’s life was at stake. “I don’t think she would do it just because he asked.” She tried to think her way through understanding her sister’s mentality. “She might do it if she believed in it. If he could turn her to his way of thinking, then that’s possible.”

  “So then you have to ask yourself, is this really what’s right for your father? And, if you had any doubts, why did you not get another opinion?”

  “Because we didn’t think there was any need,” she said painfully. “I trusted the doctors here.”

  “And it’s possible they haven’t done anything wrong,” Liam said. “It’s also possible they haven’t done the best by him either.”

  Just then the director returned. He had a tablet in his hand, flicking through it. He said, “This is your father’s medical records. He’s been here for two years and has had a steady decline in his condition.”

  “Why is that?” Liam said.

  “Who’s to say? Anyway, it’s psychological. The loss of his son affected him greatly. He stepped out of life and has no wish to return.”

  “Are you giving him any drugs to keep him calm and less aggravated?”

  The doctor flicked through several pages and then nodded. “Yes. After the attack on the nurse, he was given drugs to keep him calmer. We can’t have any of the staff here being injured as they look after him.”

  “Send me a copy of that file please,” Liam said. “I want it emailed, and I’m sending it on to a specialist.”

  “If you’re saying our care has been any less than exemplary …” the director said.

  “I’m saying that,” Lilianna snapped. “I’m quite pissed. I have POA over his medical care, and I wasn’t informed.” She still couldn’t get her head wrapped around the idea that her sister might have impersonated her, but it didn’t let the director off the hook if he informed the wrong person. She jumped to her feet and paced, her anger and fear driving her forward.

  The director looked at her. “My understanding was you agreed to his medical plan.”

  Lilianna spun to stare at him. “No. Apparently my sister did.”

  Liam held her by the shoulders. “Calm down. We’ll get to the bottom of this. We have lawyers already on it. Remember that.”

  The director stared at the two of them. “We don’t want to get between family disputes. Our job here is to give our patients the best care we can.”

  “Which you failed miserably at,” North said. “Have you tried any other treatments, brought in any other specialists, to see about his condition?

  “Our staff members are specialists in their fields,” the director said, his nose in the air. “I don’t know why, all of a sudden, you’ve decided we’re some sort of criminal unit here. We do care about our patients.”

  “Yes, but I guess the question really is,” Lilianna said, “do you care more about some than others? And do you take payouts to turn your eye? A great deal of money is to be made off my family’s property if somebody gets power of attorney over my father’s estate because of his condition. A condition that appears to have degenerated until you’ve completely zombied him.”

  The director gave her a hard look and nodded to the men. “Our lawyers are always available to speak with you.” And he turned and walked out.

  Liam looked at her and chuckled. “Zombied?”

  *

  He loved to see the fire inside her. Too often people became almost apathetic in a situation they didn’t know how to get out of. But now that she realized something was going on, she’d found her fighting spirit.

  North’s phone went off. He walked to the corner of the room.

  Liam sat on the couch beside Lilianna. “You aren’t obligated to keep him here if you want to move him.”

  “And where do I move him?” she asked wearily. “I need a specialist to go over his medical records and to determine if he’s been given the best care possible. At least he’s here, close, and I can come and visit him often.”

  “How often does your sister come?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never seen her here. I assumed she wasn’t coming at all.”

  “I wonder if I can find that out,” he said. “Stay here with North. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He walked down the hall to the reception area. “Do you have a sign-in book for guests?”

  The nurse looked up at him. “No, we don’t.”

  He nodded. “So do you have any idea how often Brianna comes in to see her father?”

  “The two women look so much alike, I have no idea. For all I know it’s always one or the other. There’s no way to tell.”

  He nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

  She glanced at him and frowned. “Why?”

  He gave her a ghost of a smile. “Because it appears one sister’s trying to pull something over on the other.”

  The nurse frowned. Then she leaned forward. “I shouldn’t be saying this, but I’m pretty sure it’s always Lilianna who’s here. Brianna wouldn’t give us the time of day unless to give us shit if something was not the way she liked it. If she was here more often, I’m sure she’d be complaining. Lilianna is easy to get along with.”

  Liam nodded, leaned forward, slightly conspiratorially, and said, “That’s what I kind of figured. Can’t say Brianna struck me as being a very easygoing woman.”

  “I went to school with both of them,” she said. “I was a couple years ahead, but Brianna was already making a name for herself. She was pretty difficult if she didn’t get what she wanted.”

  “I’m sure you heard about the marriage issue,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we all felt sorry for Lilianna. That’s got to be a hard one. But then, if you ask me, she’s better off without him.”

  “I haven’t met him,” Liam said, causing her smile to brighten and widen. “What’s he like?”

  “Slimy,” she said. Then she flushed and glanced around the empty reception area. “But, if I get caught saying anything, I’m in trouble.”

  He nodded. “I hear ya. I might be getting some documents in to sign tonight. Do you have a fax here?”

  She nodded. “I do.” She wrote down the number. “If you need stuff faxed in, you can send it here and then sign it if you need to.”

  “Thanks, I’ll see if they can do that right now.” He walked back into the room to see North and Lilianna standing close, talking. As much as he really liked North, he didn’t want to see him quite so near to the most interesting woman Liam had met in a long time.

  “Any news?
” he asked North.

  “Documents are being drawn up right now. We need to get signatures though.”

  “The nurse at reception said we could fax to their machine. We can do the signatures there and send them back.”

  North pulled out his phone. “Then let’s go to the reception area and do that.” He held out his hand for the number, turned away to make a call.

  Liam studied Lilianna. “You holding up okay?”

  She looked tired and frustrated. “Presumably this has to go through a judge?”

  He nodded. “I believe that’s the way it has to go. But it could be just signatures and lawyers.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Then I need to sign as fast as possible, especially if this is the only way to stop my sister from gaining that type of control over him.”

  Chapter 5

  Lilianna looked at the nurse at reception and said, “Katie, how are you doing tonight?”

  Katie laughed. “I’m doing fine. I understand you might be in a spot of trouble though.”

  Lilianna grinned. “When am I not?”

  Katie laughed. “How are the elephants?”

  “They’re about the only sane thing in my world right now,” Lilianna said with a big grin. “They’re happy. They’re free. They’ve got space, food and water, and they’re not chained up and living in cramped quarters.”

  “I really appreciate what you are doing for them,” Katie said. ‘I’d love to see you get more animals out there.”

  “It’s under discussion,” Lilianna said. “I just wish to God I could get my father back on his feet.”

  Katie nodded. Just then the fax machine behind her beeped. She got up as paper rolled through it. She read the cover sheet and turned to Lilianna. “This is page one of three for Lilianna and Liam.” She turned and looked at Liam.

  He nodded. “That’s me.”

  Without looking at the documents, she pulled the rest of them off the machine and handed them over. Lilianna watched as Liam read through them. He leaned over, grabbed the pen off the reception desk and told Lilianna, “Sign here.”